Chusetts



No Model.) l

G. W. B. ELLIS-,8v E. L.WARREN.

WIRE CLEANING VAPARATUS. NO. 304,513. Patented Sept. 2, 1884.

YHEESES- IAQVEPITDRS /svybnam UNTTEE STATES PATENT OEETCE.

GEORGE W. B. ELLISAND EDVARD L. VARREN, OF WORCESTER, MASSA- CHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO THE VVASHBURN & MOEN MANUFACTURNG COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

WIRE-CLEANING APPARATUS.

BEC'IFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,513, dated September 2, 1884.

l Application filed July 30, 1F83. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. B. ELLrs and EDWARD L. WARREN, citizens of the United States, residing at Vorcester, in the 5 county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful -Improvement in Apparatus for Handling vWire Coils, of which the following is aspeeification,

the accompanying drawings forming a part Io thereof, in which- Figure l shows a front elevation of our improved device; Fig. 2, an end elevation `with the V-shaped trough for holding the coils, Fig. 3, a detached view of the horizontal supporting-bar, and Fig. 4 a detached view of one of the upright bars B.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several views.

Our present invention relates to an appazo ratus to facilitate the handling of the coils of wire or wire rods in any of the processes of wire-making, and is designed particularly to aid in the manipulation of the coils of wire rods in that process known as pickling,77 which consists in immersing the coils in an acid or cleaning bath for the purpose of removing from their surface oxide or foreign substances preparatory to their being drawn or plated. By the method now commonly employed the wire rodsin coils of varying sizes and weight, according to the size and kind of wire, are strung upon an upright stem or post having arms or bars projecting radially from its lower end, and upon which the column of coils rests, the coils lying one upon another, and each coil receiving the weight of all those above it. The chain of the crane or hoisting apparatus is then attached to the upper end ofthe stem or post and the coils raised, carricd over, and lowered into the vat containing the cleaning-solution. The coils thus wholly immersed are allowed to remain until the action of the bath upon the surface of the wire rods has producedl its desired effect, when the coils are raised from the vat and devitriolized, which ordinarily consists in subjecting them toa stream of water to remove any excess of acid, and thereby prevent its injurious effect upon the wire. By the 5o above-described method each coil has to be lresulting in the rods being unequally acted upon-some parts inj uriously affected by the bath and some imperfectly cleaned. By our improved method of handling the coils ofwire .rods we seek to obviate these and other obj ectionable features of the present mode; and our 6 5 invention consists, in its essential features, first, in a horizontal bar supporting the wire coils, and held by a suspensory frame or bail, to which the hoisting apparatus is attached, thereby permitting the entire surface of the coils, with the supporting-bar,to be immersed in the cleaning solution; second, in providing the suspensory frame or bail with projecting ends adapted to rest on the sides of the vat or y other suitable support, so as to allow the coils to be held suspended thereby in the bath; third, in making the horizontal supportingbar detachable at one or both ends from the suspensory frame or= bail, so as to facilitate 'putting on and taking off the' wire coils; 8o

fourth, in the combination, with the lifting and wire-supporting apparatus, of a V-shaped trough for holding the wire coils; and, fifth,

in certain details of construction, as hereiny after set forth. 35 Our improved apparatus may be made of wood or metal; but when used in the operation of pickling wire rods we prefer to construct it of wood, as otherwise a metal must be selected which will withstand the action of the cleaning-solution, while wood is much less expensive, is lighter, and is but slightly affected by the vacid solution generally used in cleaning.

The method of constructing our wire-handling apparatus is as follows:

A is a bar having near each end the mortises a a., (shown by the broken lines in Fig. 1,) through which pass the tenons I b of the upright bars B B. The tenons b b have each roo a transverse channel on the inner sides of the bars, forming shoulders d el, which are made to embrace the bar A when the tenons are in position by the keys e e. A short distance from the lower ends of the bars B B are niortises ff, of suicient size to allow the bar C to pass freely. The bar C has shoulders g g at each end, which, resting against the inner sides of the bars B B, prevent any endwise motion of the bar C. In the center of the bar A may be an eyebolt, (shown by the broken lines at h,) or a curved rod, z', or chain attached by the eyeboltsj j to the bar A at points equidstant from the center of the bar, to which the chain of a crane or other hoisting device may be attached.

In connection with the above described frame we employ a V-shaped trough formed ofthe sidesD D, and having ends, one of which is shown at E, Fig. 2, placed the same distance apart as the bars B B, and upon which their lower ends rest, the end pieces being cut away in the center, to allow the bars B B to bring the mortises ff low enough with refer ence to the wire coils F, placed on edge in the trough, so the bar C may be inserted' through the mortises ff, and also through the centers of the coils F. The frame is then raised by the hoisting apparatus, having the wire coils suspended on the horizontal bar C, as shown in Fig. l, each coil resting apart from its neighbor, and touching the bar C at a sin gle point at the top of the bar, the separate strands of wire in each coil hanging loosely, and allowing the cleaning-solution free access to all parts of its surface. After the wire has been withdrawn from the cleaning-bath, and

while it is still held suspended by the hoisting apparatus, a whirling niotion may be given to the frame, (the sustainingschain having a swivel for that purpose,) and a stream of water played upon the coils,very eifectually washing oit' all surplus acid, owing to the water obtaining free access to and between all the coils. The projecting ends K K of the bar C is adapted to rest upon the sides of the vat or upon suitable supports, to sustain the frame with the wire coils wholly immersed in the cleaning-solution whenever it is desired to leave the coils suspended for a time in the vat.

XVe do not confine ourselves tothe specific construction as above described, as several of the features of our invention might be einbodied in other forms of construction. For instance, that part of the jointed frame formed by the bar A and bars B B may be made in one piece when made of metal; or other forms of joint may be used; or the frame may be stayed by any ofthe systems of bracing known to carpenters and wood-workers; or,instead of a sliding bar, C, having shoulders g g, pins may be used passing through one or both ends of the bar O and one or both-of the bars B B; or the bar C may be hinged at one end to one of the bars B B and have a suitablelatching device at the opposite end; nor do we claim, broadly, suspending the wire coils from a horizontal bar, as that mode of suspension is common in many of the arts-such as dyeing, electroplating, 85e.; but

What we do claiunas our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The wire handling apparatus as described, consisting of a rigid frame or bail, and a horizontal wire-supporting bar held by but detachable from said rigid frame or bail, and a single suspending cord or chain, upon which a whirling or rotary motion can be given to the coils of wire while they are being sub-V jected to a current of water, the several parts being combined as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a wire-handling apparatus, the conibination, with a rigid frame or bail carrying a horizontal detachable wiresupporting bar, said frame or bail having means for attaching a suspending cord or chain, of projecting ends extending laterally from said rigid frame or bail, for the purpose of resting on the sides of the vat or other suitable support, said ends being at a suicient distance above the horizontal wire-supporting bar to allow the coinplete immersion of said bar and the wire coils in the cleaningvat, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a wire-handling apparatus, the conibination of a wire-holding trough and a lifting frame or bail having a horizontal detachable wire-supporting bar, as and for the purpose set forth.

GEO. W. B. ELLIS. E. L. WARREN.

Vitnesses:

Burns B. FowLnR, GEO. E. SMITH. 

